1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a reclining chair, more particularly one whose back is steplessly adjustable so that one person will be able to displace the back to any reclining position according to his need, thus making the reclining chair even more comfortable to lie on.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Referring to FIG. 8, a conventional reclining chair 4 includes a frame, a back 44, a footrest 46, a pair of connecting rods 441, and a securing mechanism, which is used for securing the back 44 after the same is angularly displaced to a suitable position.
The frame has two lateral parts 41, a first transverse rod 21 at a rear end, and a second transverse rod 45 between front and rear ends thereof.
The back 4 is angularly displaceably fitted to the frame, and it has a transverse support rod 47. The footrest 46 is pivoted to the front end of the frame.
In addition, two hollow holding elements 442 are fitted to the second transverse rod 45 of the frame. And, the connecting rods 441 are passed through the hollow holding elements 442 respectively, and they are pivoted to the back 44 at rear ends and the footrest 46 at front ends; thus, the footrest 46 and the back 44 can be simultaneously adjusted in position.
The securing mechanism includes a rotary shaft 43 parallel to and supported on the first transverse rod 21 of the frame, a pedal 431 securely joined to one end of the rotary shaft 43, a semicircular pushing member 432 securely joined to the other end of the shaft 43, two apart and opposing plates 421 secured on the first transverse rod 21 of the frame, an engaging pin 422 joined to the plates 421 at two ends thereof, and an engaging rod 48, which is pivoted to the transverse support rod 41 of the back 4 at an upper end and passed between the plates 421. The engaging rod 48 is formed with several spaced engaging gaps 481. And, an elastic element 482 is connected with the transverse support rod 47 and the engaging rod 48 at two ends thereof for biasing the engaging rod 48 to the engaging pin 422. Therefore, the engaging rod 48 can be secured in position with one of the engaging gaps 481 being fitted on the engaging pin 422. In addition, the engaging rod 48 is close to the semicircular pushing member 432 at a lower end so that it will disengage the pin 422 as soon as the pushing member 432 is forced to move forwards.
Consequently, the engaging rod 48 will disengage the engaging pin 422 as soon as the pedal 431 is depressed, allowing the engaging rod 48 to be linearly displaced relative to the engaging pin as well as allowing the back 44 to be angularly displaced relative to the frame for adjustment in position. After the back 44 is angularly displaced to a desired position, and one stops depressing the pedal 431, the engaging rod 48 will engage the engaging pin 422 again to secure the back 44 in the desired position.
Therefore, the back 44 can be adjusted in position according to the sitter's need. However, because the engaging rod 48 has a finite number of engaging gaps 481, there are only a limited number of different positions for the back 44 to be selectively displaced to. In other words, the back 44 can't be adjusted to any reclining position, and it isn't ergonomically ideal.